Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will deliver his daily briefing on coronavirus from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Tuesday. The session is scheduled for 10:45am.
Cuomo, during his daily briefing Monday, said he would make an announcement Tuesday about a new policy concerning elective surgeries at upstate New York hospitals.
Cuomo has been briefing the media daily on the latest developments on the pandemic and has occasionally taken the briefings 'on the road' to venues relating to the ongoing battle against the spread of COVID-19. Roswell Park is expected to be the setting for the Tuesday briefing at a yet to be determined time, likely late in the morning.
The Roswell visit would likely come before Cuomo is expected to travel to Washington for a meeting with President Trump to discuss the ongoing debate over how the federal government can help states during the ongoing pandemic.
Cuomo said the states should take the lead on testing but it’s up to the federal government to help sort out supply chain issues facing testing manufacturers.
“What the states will run into is when you talk to those labs ... they buy machines and equipment from national manufacturers,” said Cuomo, who is expected to meet with Trump at the White House Tuesday. “And those labs can only run as many tests as the national manufacturers provide them chemicals, reagents and lab kits.”
Public health experts say the country needs to dramatically increase its testing infrastructure if it is going to safely roll back restrictions and reopen businesses without risking a major spike in infections.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, told ABC's “Good Morning America” Monday that the country is currently running about 1.5 million to 2 million tests per week. But, “we really need to get up to, at least, you know, maybe two times that, three times that.”
The White House said the Pentagon is finalizing negotiations with a Maine medical company to ramp up production of nasal swabs under the Defense Production Act. An Ohio manufacturer of cotton swabs has also agreed to convert its facilities to allow for 10 million testing swabs per month.